Mount Ridley widens giant scandium resource near Esperance

Mount Ridley Mines has strengthened the case for a major expansion of its Grass Patch scandium resource near Esperance in WA after new re-assay results confirmed high-grade mineralisation extends beyond the boundaries of its existing Block 2 resource.

The company’s latest tranche of results from historical drill samples has returned several broad, near-surface intercepts grading well above the current Block 2 resource average of 86.9 parts per million (ppm) scandium oxide.

The best result came from one drill hole, which delivered 19 metres at 127.68ppm scandium oxide from 20m.

Three other standout hits in separate drill holes included 24m at 114.54ppm scandium oxide from 24m, 19m at 114.25ppm from 33m and 12m at 110.05ppm scandium oxide from 22m.

Notably, many of the better holes ended in mineralisation, indicating the scandium system remains open and could potentially extend well beyond the current modelled resource envelope.

The results follow a similar announcement late last month when Mount Ridley revealed re-assayed holes around its Block 1 resource had identified high-grade scandium mineralisation extending north, south, east and west of the existing resource shell.

That earlier work produced results from three separate holes, including 22m at 134.09ppm, 20m at 119.02ppm and 13m at 117.34ppm scandium oxide, prompting management to flag a pathway towards a resource upgrade.

Taken together, the Block 1 and Block 2 programs now provide the company with a complete phase one dataset across its Grass Patch scandium inventory.

Mount Ridley says the results validate its view that the project hosts a much larger scandium-bearing system than has been captured in the existing mineral resource estimate.

The project already boasts a JORC-compliant inferred scandium resource of 367.98 million tonnes grading 57.3ppm scandium, for about 18,855 tonnes of contained metal, ranking Grass Patch among the world’s largest known scandium resources.

Management says the latest results have highlighted expansion potential in every direction around Block 2, with particularly encouraging extensions emerging along the southern and eastern margins, where several thick intercepts exceeded 100ppm scandium oxide.

Notably, the scandium mineralisation sits alongside established heavy rare earth and gallium resources within the same broader system. Management says the combination reinforces Grass Patch as a potential multi-commodity critical minerals project of genuine scale, while potentially offering future processing and development synergies.

The growing scandium inventory dovetails neatly with Mount Ridley’s downstream ambitions. Just a week ago, the company secured CSIRO Kick-Start co-funding for a $104,000 research program examining scandium applications in additive manufacturing, aerospace, defence and robotics.

The work will be undertaken at CSIRO’s Lab22 facility and forms the first stage of a broader strategy aimed at creating intellectual property and unlocking additional value from the company’s scandium asset base.

Together with the Block 1 results, this gives us a full picture of the scandium system across Grass Patch, generated entirely from the re-assay of historical drill material rather than new drilling, a low-cost pathway to materially expand a resource that already ranks among the largest scandium discoveries reported globally.

The company is now preparing for phase two of its re-assay campaign, with 2000 additional historical pulps due for collection this week from a bigger pool of 14,000 unassayed samples. The new data will ultimately feed into an updated mineral resource estimate.

With re-assays from both Block 1 and Block 2 now confirming scandium mineralisation beyond existing resource boundaries, Mount Ridley appears to be building a strong case that Grass Patch hosts a much larger scandium system than is currently defined.

With every re-assay adding weight to the geological model, Mount Ridley appears well-placed to grow an already globally significant scandium resource at minimal cost, just as demand for secure Western critical mineral supply continues to accelerate.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au